Well, we freepers always appreciate the opportunity to pray for each other. Please let us know how everything is going. If you decide to post a prayer request, I’d appreciate your sending me a ping, if you wouldn’t mind. God bless.

I often wonder just how many people do that - lie or stretch the truth to gain power or position in churches or Christian groups.

When my children were little, I had them involved in a Christian children’s group. At the time, I was not religious myself, but I was up front with the leaders about that. I helped wherever I was needed, but I never offered to assume responsibility in a leadership position. I assumed the people in leadership for that organization were “true” Christians. Then, at one meeting, I found out that most of them were not Christian at all; they were playing the part just to have access and control. That was a wake up call, to say the least.

Clubs such as the Muslim Students Association, Cru, InterVarsity and the Newman Catholic Center were among dozens represented at the Nov. 15 California State Student Association meeting at Cal Poly to speak out against the new policy.

I don't know whether or not that means the policy extends to the Muslim Students Association, though.

I had a young friend whose oncologists told her there was no hope. There was nothing they could do for her. So, she tried every alternative treatment she could find. Even though none of those alternative treatments worked for her, she did not regret trying them because they gave her HOPE. Hope is what keeps patients going. Who knows what might work?

OTOH, my dear father suffered and was refused all help, all hope. I wish he’d been given a “right to try.” It took months to find doctors willing to try something, but it was too late by then.

I never heard of “Right to Try” laws before now. A quick search produced some more information:

We all know that the FDA process holds up lifesaving medicines sometimes (if not all the time). If “Right to Try” laws give terminal patients greater access to promising medicines, that can’t be a bad thing.

By the way, best wishes to you, KC. I have a relative who’s been surviving the same disease for years, thanks to a miracle pill.

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I assume his parents are aware that his photos and videos are all over the internet. Personally, as a parent, I would worry about that. But, I assume he has their permission. In any case, he seems very mature for a 12-year-old.

That’s a good point, too. We’re really overloading babies and small children with this stuff, but, as you point out, all of these shots might not even be necessary. Now it’s up to 25 shots for 13 different diseases, all before 18 months of age. Who knows how many more shots will be added...

Well, thank you for answering. So far you’re the only one - anywhere - who’s answered that question. I’m 20 years older than you are, and I probably didn’t receive as many shots as you did. I know I didn’t receive as many shots as children today are given.

Today the number of shots is up to 25 (not including flu shots), all before the age of 18 months, and then more shots later:

The soft bigotry of low expectations. The African Amercan History expert is the real racist in this story. Black students are perfectly capable of excelling in STEM courses, if excellence in those areas is expected of them by teachers and demanded of them by parents.

Amen. An increasing number of parents of black students are homeschooling, holding their children to high standards. And their children are achieving success.

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Under “Community Housing,” there was only one category for “Single-Sex Housing.” That is, men and women live on separate floors there. Apparently, that’s an unusual arrangement today, especially at this university.

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When I was looking into this the other day, I thought about the Amish. But, according to some websites, the Amish do get SS#'s.

I did come across one conversation where someone claimed that, as part of a religious group that opposes social security, they use Taxpayer ID#'s, instead of SS#'s. But, when I looked up Taxpayer ID#'s on the IRS website, it said those are only for "alien individuals who are ineligible for SS#'s."

Except as otherwise specified under Treasury regulations, a SSN is used as an individuals identifying number for tax purposes. [16]

[16] Sec. 6109(d); Treas. Reg. secs. 301.6109-1(a)(1)(ii)(A) and 301.7701-11. Alternate arrangements may apply to the children of taxpayers (such as the Amish) who are members of recognized groups that have religious objections to participation in the Social Security program, who have filed Form 4029 (Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits), and who have received approval of their Form 4029 application.

I just searched and found more on the background of this story. It is beginning to sound increasingly disturbing, to say the least.

This young woman’s dilemma is like a puzzle to solve: What would someone, who has no documentation of her existence, have to do to either prove that she is a U.S. citizen by birth or, at the very least, be permitted to legally go to college, get a job, drive a car, travel with a valid passport, buy health insurance, get married, and so on?

OTOH, I can’t help but wonder: Is there an advantage to “not existing,” at least not on paper? Could she take advantage somehow of this situation she’s in? According to what other people are saying, there are some parents who believe in raising so-called “ninja babies” that don’t exist on paper. (Am I understanding that correctly?) Presumably, these parents must believe there’s some kind of advantage to not existing on paper... What advantage do these parents think their children will have?

I would think that the same policies that apply to foreign-born “undocumented” people also would apply to an “undocumented” person who was born here (even though she can’t prove that she was... at least not yet).

If she wants a driver’s license, it appears that, in Texas, if you’ve never been issued an SSN, you can go to any driver’s license office and file an affidavit attesting that you never received an SSN:http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/DriverLicense/ssn.htm

I saw this story on a news website recently. But here, you and other FReepers have done a lot of research on this case.

If the girl’s older siblings were able to go to college, work, drive, etc., then maybe this girl should sit down with her parents and work through the process with them, too.

In the meantime, this girl is complaining about not being able to go to college, get a job, driver’s license, etc. But, how can that be so? Plenty of “undocumented” people are going to college and working in Texas.

Once in college, she’ll have a college ID card, a college transcript, mail from government agencies to her address, etc. - all documents that can be used to help her with identification. She’s probably going to need her parents to verify at some point, however.

If all that fails, she can commit a crime and get herself arrested. I noticed that Texas considers a criminal record to be proper documentation. (Ironic, isn’t it?)

BTW, as a recent victim of identity theft, the way I look at it, this girl isn’t in such a bad situation. ;-)

To a certain extent, though, I can sympathize with her on the red tape and bureaucracy. Recently I asked to apply for a filing fee waiver for filing court docs. You can’t apply for a waiver unless you have a bank account statement showing a balance. If you have so little money that you have no bank account, you don’t receive a waiver. So, no waiver for me...

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We also know that people here have a vastly different character than the rest of the Mediterranean. They have volcanic tempers that quickly subside. Despite living on harsh, steep terrain, they're known for relentless optimism and three-day parties. They don't get stressed by deadlines. They go to bed well after midnight, sleep late and take naps.

Interesting. My family is American, but our ancestors were from Italy. So, there’s a lot of olive oil in our diet. And we have a lot of cancer in our family. That’s why I never believed the claims about the Mediterranean diet. But, as you point out, the olive oil is heated...

OTOH, maybe it has less to do with what we eat, and more to do with genetics.